Secure energy right up to the most remote drive

Just imagine – the rollers in one section of a logistic centre's parcel belt fail all of a sudden. Bottlenecks and chaos are inevitable. The challenge of eliminating faults such as these from the outset is one being tackled by

plant planners in a variety of industrial sectors – from intralogistics and airport logistics, to production processes in the automotive industry.

“The local automation concept has clearly found acceptance when it comes to connecting individual elements in modular plant manufacture and for elongated machinery. Drive technology no longer uses frequency converters or motor starters in a central cabinet. Instead, they are positioned close to or even directly on top of the motor,” explains Product Manager Ulrich Trapp, summing up the present automation situation.

“It was against a backdrop such as this, where energy needs to be transported over large distances

Online shops and e-commerce are stimulating the mail order business like never before. To ensure that they do not disrupt the busy operation of globally rotating parcel clearance procedures, the automated processes must be absolutely reliable

without losses so even the most remote drive still has a secure power supply, that we designed our FieldPower® power bus system. Our NetCalc® project planning tool offers crucial assistance with respect to project planning, calculation and documentation of modular power bus networks based on FieldPower®.”

Crucial assistance in designing modular power bus systems

Which current paths and voltages are present? What is the correct way of calculating the line protection devices? And what are the consequences of a potential short-circuit? Anyone designing a power bus system has to grapple with precisely these questions and more besides. Their goal is to create a reliable system that does not activate incorrectly, is easy to maintain and secure, even when a fault occurs.

In the associated planning process, there are two potential unfavourable scenarios. If cableways are longer than necessary, while the transmission can still be relied on, the material usage is unnecessarily high. But if they are too short, the worst-case scenario could be a cable fire. It is against this backdrop that NetCalc® allows for balanced planning. The tool offers reliable load calculations, whereby cable dimensions can be measured to perfection.

Power transparency at a glance thanks to colour signals

“To reap the full benefits of modularisation, power bus networks are designed according to the plant topology – from the linear structure with lateral or middle power supply, over the tree structure, to meshed networks. All of

After inputting the relevant plant sizes, the NetCalc® project planning software allows planners to see exactly which cross-sections have to be laid where to achieve the maximum possible security at the same time as ensuring economical material usage

these structures are supported by the NetCalc® graphic editor,” reports Mr Trapp, who then goes on to point out: “If you do not want to input the entire plant structure, you can simply check the 'worst-case' power bus segments and still achieve a superior degree of security.”

NetCalc® calculates the “voltage drop” and “current load” parameters during the input stage. The colour of the planned lines and equipment – either green, yellow or red – indicates the power of the complete network and every single line segment at a glance. In addition, energy efficiency can be improved even at the planning stage. The efficiency calculated makes it easier to select the cross-sections suitable for this.

The project planning result is a template for optimum cable dimensions with known system reserves.

Further plans can be made on this basis, with the assurance that even the last conveyor roller will work reliably given that the power bus networks have been reliably simulated and calculated.

Significantly reducing the time and effort spent on cabling

To cut the time and effort spent on cabling during the implementation phase, Weidmüller not only provides its planners and fitters with its FieldPower® solution, but also pluggable M12 T-coded power distributors too – for a total current of up to 32 A and 10 A per stub.

“To supply local miniature drives with power in the field, for example, modular terminals in specially assembled, local cabinets used to deliver the 24 V DC to every component,” explains Product Manager Stefan Reker. “Now, thanks to our exceptionally space-saving SAI SVV power distributor, up to four components can be easily supplied by one line. It's pluggable, easy to assemble and therefore saves a great deal of time and money – these benefits make our IP 67 power distributor a unique solution for local power supply.”